


A Morning of Firsts

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Family, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 20:11:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4759445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They made a slightly offbeat but workable team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Morning of Firsts

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place after Surrendering Noah. I've always been a bit of Barson shipper. I love their friendship and their chemistry and I wouldn’t be mad if it became something more. I actually think it would be kinda perfect. So I wrote a little something because after watching another Season 16 marathon last night and reading fic, these characters started talking in my head. This is my first SVU fic.

“Hey, come on in, I'm so sorry.” Olivia opened the door, turning to walk away as Barba walked in.

“I just got here; there can't be anything to apologize for.”

“Lucy just called and said she was going to be 20 minutes late. She said it’s like the zombie apocalypse outside. I always thought that might be a little quieter than all this.”

Olivia was wiping Noah’s hands and mouth as he sat in his high chair. It was sausage and eggs for breakfast this morning so less mess than usual. Not to be outdone in any way from other mornings, Noah made as much a mess as he could. His mother was sure that 60% of the meal went into his belly. 

The other 40 was somewhere between the table top and his lap. She pulled the table top toward her as Noah held out his arms to be picked up. As expected, egg remnants fell on the floor. That was much better than ending up on her shirt. Olivia handed him a bottle with soy milk in it.

“Two major conventions in town plus the usual tourist hip parade.” Barba did his best to ignore the mess. Benson’s apartment tended to look like she had three kids instead of one. “I don’t think Lucy’s assessment was off by much.”

“I just really appreciate you taking the time to come and pick me up but now we’re going to be even later than usual. I'm taking you out of your way and…”

“Stop” Barba held up his hand. He knew how fast Olivia could go if someone didn’t wind her down. “I've only had one cup of coffee this morning so I'm not sure I'm capable of following you at your usual warp speed.”

She turned to him and smiled. Standing there holding her son in her arms made Barba smile too. He knew that she was a badass cop. He was well aware that she was a strong, phenomenal woman. But mom Liv…there was just something about her. He did his best not to think about it too often but there she was looking him right in the face.

“What?” her expression changed from cute to questioning.

“I don't know what you mean.”

“You’ve got a strange look on your face.”

“I'm sure I don’t.” Barba cleared his throat and did his best to change that. “What are we listening to?”

There were lots of places, OK not lots but some, that Rafael Barba could expect to walk into at 7:15 a.m. and hear Dr. Dre and Tupac. Olivia Benson’s place wasn’t one of them. He pegged her as more the Whitney Houston or Anita Baker type. Perhaps a hidden Beyoncé or Pussycat Dolls album when she was in the mood to feel sexy. There was absolutely no need at this hour to think of Olivia being sexy. What the hell did his face look like now?

“Fin showed me four studies that indicate that children with verbal delays like Noah’s can benefit from rap music. The combination of music and words being spoken instead of sung seem to have a positive effect on them. The control groups were small in all three studies but we’re trying a little bit of everything. So he made a CD of clean versions of some of the more upbeat or educational songs and we listen in the morning. Don’t we, Noah?”

So Noah was a fan of West Coast hip-hop, Barba would add that to the list of things that he never thought he would hear. If Tupac could make him talk then no one would complain about that. He was a very quiet and shy little boy; he'd been through enough hell to last him a lifetime. But Barba could tell there was an impish little bug in there waiting to come out. He played and created worlds in his head with vivid imagination. His coloring was quite creative for a kid his age. And one night when he was fighting sleep harder than Rafael had ever seen a kid fight, he watched him nearly dance himself to the land of nod to Monkees songs.

“How is it working thus far?”

“Well he can P to the beat so…”

“Is that a fresh pot of coffee?” Barba looked toward her kitchen counter. “I'm gonna need some of that before you repeat what you just said because I need to ask what did you just say?”

She laughed a little as she handed the toddler over to the ADA. He remembered the first time she’d done that, he held Noah like he had a cootie infection. Over the months he’d gotten slightly better though Barba didn’t think it was by much. As least Noah didn’t cry in his arms or try to fight him. They made a slightly offbeat but workable team.

“I mean the letter P, Barba.” Liv walked into the kitchen and grabbed a mug from the cabinet. “He seems to love the sound, makes it repeatedly as he dances. Fin called him a human beatbox.”

“Is that so?” Barba smiled at the little boy, walking him over to the couch and sitting down. “You like the letter P, Noah? What about R, can you make the R sound? Can you say Rafael? Say Rafael. Ra-fae-el.”

Olivia laughed to herself as she made his coffee. She was only going to take a moment to realize she knew exactly how he took it down to the letter. Barba was a picky man when it came to his coffee. He could be that guy in Starbucks on some mornings, afternoons, or even evenings. Coffee wasn’t just a drink for the ADA, it was a lifestyle.

“C'mon buddy, can you say Ra-fae-el?”

“I think that’s a bit above his level right now, Barba.” She walked into the living room with a nice sized mug.

“Barpa!” Noah exclaimed.

“Oh my god!” Olivia rushed toward them, managing to put the coffee down on the table and only spilling a bit over the side. She sat down on the couch and looked at Rafael, who looked just as amazed as she did. Noah smiled a bit, proud of his accomplishment. “Noah, what did you just say sweetie? Can you say it again for mommy?”

“Barpa!” he shouted, gently slapping his hand onto Barba’s face and running it down from his forehead to his chin. “Barpa!”

“Oh sweetie,” she reached out to hug her son, unintentionally grabbing up Barba too. “Oh Noah, that was so good. This is ADA Barba, he's a very good friend of yours.” She kissed his cheek.

“He just said my name.” Rafael could hardly believe it as the words were coming out of his mouth. Of course he’d been sitting there trying to see if the little boy could wrap his nearly speechless tongue around Rafael but that’s just what adults did with kids, wasn’t it? Was he a jerk or just a regular adult for never expecting to hear Noah say a word?

“He just said his first word.” Olivia scooped the little boy into her arms and gave him a tighter hug. Somehow Barba’s arm got tangled in the whole thing but no one made any fuss about that. “Mommy is so proud of you, little man.”

“Barpa.” Noah said it again, quieter this time but clear and concise nonetheless.

The knocking on the door got Olivia and Noah up from the couch. Rafael managed to get his arm untangled from the mother-son juggernaut and watched them walk away. Olivia looked out the peephole before opening the door.

“I made it.” Lucy smiled as she walked in. “It’s insane out there.”

“Noah said his first word!” Olivia exclaimed bouncing on the balls of her feet as she said it.

“Oh my god, that’s great!” Lucy took the toddler into her arms. “That is really good news. Was it mama?”

“It was Barpa.”

“What's a Barpa?”

“That would be me.” Barba stood from the couch, coffee cup in hand. “Good morning, Lucy.”

“Good morning, Mr. Barba. Wow Noah, saying your first word is such an awesome thing. We’ll work on it today and get it on video for mommy to watch tonight.”

“That would be awesome.” Olivia took Noah’s face in her hands and gave him tons of kisses. “I can't wait to see it. We better get going…we’re already running later than we hoped.”

“I am so sorry about that, Olivia.”

“It’s not your fault Lucy. Traffic and everything else is insane out there. Have a great day.”

“We will. Tell mommy bye bye.”

Noah held up his hand to wave as Olivia blew him kisses. The coffee was hot but Rafael drank more than half of it. A scalding throat was surely worth the caffeine he needed coursing through his veins. That and he was still wrapping his mind around the fact that Olivia Benson’s son’s first word was his name.

“Bye Noah; have a nice day Lucy.”

“Thanks, you too.”

“Barpa!” Noah shouted his name again and held out his arms.

“I think he wants a hug.” Olivia said. “He only does that when he wants a hug.”

“From me?” Rafael looked at Olivia. He didn’t quite know what to make of her smug smiley face. He looked back at the little boy so he wouldn’t have to think about kissing his mother’s teasing lips.

“Go on, Barba, he doesn’t bite.”

He picked Noah up and gave him a big hug as he’d seen Olivia do earlier. Noah held tight to him, mimicking that P sound again. Then Rafael kissed his temple. Handing him back to Lucy, he and Olivia walked out of the door. As usual they took the stairs down from the second floor to the street. He noticed Olivia staring at him the entire time but didn’t know what to say about it. Halfway to his car, which was parked on the next block up, Barba decided to give it a try.

“That was quite an exciting morning and we haven’t even gotten into traffic yet.”

“Noah adores you.” Olivia said.

“Does he?”

“Oh c'mon, Barba, of course he does. His whole face lights up when you're around.”

“Why?” Rafael asked.

“I don't know. We don’t pick who our kids find fascinating. It might have something to do with all the colorful ties. But you also talk to him, not at him like some adults can do. You treat him like a little person.”

“He is a little person. And I'm not that fascinating…I barely knew how to hold him.”

“You're getting better with that.” She put her hand on his arm. “Your name was his first word. Not only that, he knew exactly who he was talking about.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?” Barba asked.

“That Noah likes you, of course not…I like you.”

“I just meant that…you like me?”

“You need more coffee, Barba.” Olivia laughed. “I think this morning really got you rattled.”

Rafael tried to smile as he walked over to the driver’s side of his car. Olivia liked him; Noah liked him. His face lit up with Barba was around. Why had he never noticed that? Did his mother’s face light up too? 

She seemed incredibly pleased about her son’s first words. She didn’t seem to want it to be mama or whatever else a kid might say. He had no idea what else a kid might say. But how much did Noah have to hear his name and see him to put the two together and actually say them? How long had the sweet little imp been planning this ambush?

“I like Noah too,” he said as he started his car and checked the side mirror for passing vehicles. “And you. I like you, Olivia.”

“Do you see how much easier it is when we’re on the same page.” Olivia patted his shoulder before putting on her seatbelt. “We should do this more often.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

***


End file.
